page_title: Galusha A. Grow
section_title: Political career
hierarchical_section_title: Galusha A. Grow / Political career
caption_attribution_description: English: Black and white profile (face-on) photograph of Galusha Grow, 24th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, in an oval frame
context_page_description: Galusha Aaron Grow was a prominent American politician, lawyer, writer and businessman, who served as 24th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1861 to 1863. Elected as a Democrat in the 1850 congressional elections, he switched to the newly-organized Republican Party in the mid-1850s when the Democratic Party tried to force the extension of slavery into western territories.
  Elected speaker for the 37th Congress, Grow presided over the House during the initial years of the American Civil War. During his tenure Congress passed the landmark Homestead Act of 1862, which he supported. Grow was defeated for reelection in 1862. For over a century he remained the last incumbent House speaker to be defeated, until Speaker Tom Foley lost his seat in 1994.
  After leaving office he continued to speak out on political issues, but did not serve in elective office. Then, 31 years after leaving office, Grow won an 1894 special election to succeed William Lilly. It remains one of the longest known interregnums between terms of service for a House member.
caption: Galusha Grow, c. 1859
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